pilot

Sixteen Ryanair cabin crew workers at Eindhoven Airport have been fired by the Irish budget airline, according to union FNV. According to the airline, these workers were still in their trial period, which lasts a year according to Irish employment law, NOS reports.

Seventeen pilots filed a lawsuit against Ryanair over the Irish airline's decision to close its base at Eindhoven Airport. They want the court to ban their transfer to abroad, according to their lawyer. The case will appear in the court in Den Bosch next week, ANP reports.​

Pilots union VNV is taking Ryanair to court for using so-called strike breakers to execute flights during the pilots strike on Friday. Despite a court previously banning the Irish budget airline from using other pilots during the strike, two Ryanair flights took off from Eindhoven Airport on Friday morning, NU.nl reports.

The Dutch pilots that work for Irish budget airline Ryanair will join an international strike by Ryanair cabin crew on Friday. The airline canceled a total of 190 flights for Friday, including at least 22 to and from Eindhoven Airport. Some 4 thousand Dutch passengers will be affected, Eindhovens Dagblad reports.

KLM pilots are threatening to strike if the Dutch airline does not respond to their demands for a better collective bargaining agreement before Friday, the Telegraaf reports based on a letter pilots' union VNV sent to its members.

The pilots demand a lighter workload and a wage increase, according to the newspaper. The negotiations between KLM and VNV have been deadlocked since VNV members rejected the proposed collective bargaining agreement in May. A spokesperson for KLM confirmed to the Telegraaf that the negotiations are "in a difficult phase".

Ryanair pilots in the Netherlands are striking on Friday. Despite this Ryanair said that no flights to and from the Netherlands will be canceled. Other pilots will be flown in to handle the affected flights, according to pilots' union VNV, NOS reports.

There is a worldwide shortage in pilots. Boeing estimates that 790 thousand pilots will be needed in the next 20 years. KLM is poaching pilots from competitors TUI and Corendon, sources from within KLM told the Telegraaf.

"It is a fact that there is more demand for pilots than supply in the market at the moment", a TUI spokesperson said to the newspaper. According to him, TUI pilots that are quitting are mainly pilots of planes used for international destinations.

Corendon also said that their pilots are being hired away by KLM, according to the newspaper.

Ryanair pilots in the Netherlands plan to strike for 24 hours on Friday, pilot union VNV announced. Ryanair filed summary proceedings to prevent the strike. The case will appear in the court in Haarlem on Thursday afternoon, NU.nl reports.

The Dutch pilots working for Irish budget airline Ryanair gave the airline until Tuesday to present a better wage offer. If the airline does not meet that deadline, the Dutch pilots will strike, pilots' union VNV said, according to ANP.

A 46-year-old pilot was caught under the influence of alcohol at Schiphol during the early hours of Sunday morning. While preparing the plane before departure, ground staff noticed that the pilot smelled of alcohol and notified the police, NOS reports.

A breathalyzer test a few hours later showed that the pilot's blood-alcohol level was 0.26. The maximum level allowed for pilots is 0.2 per mille. Aircraft personnel are not allowed to drink any alcohol 10 hours before departure.

Ryanair pilots in the Netherlands will strike if the Irish budget airline does not take pilot union VNV's "one last chance" to come to a collective bargaining agreement. The union considers it unlikely that an agreement will be reached, a VNV spokesperson said, NU.nl reports.

VNV and Ryanair have been negotiating a collective bargaining agreement for some time, but the negotiations are at a deadlock, according to the union. "We doubt whether they want to come to a collective agreement", the spokesperson said. The union sent Ryanair its ultimatum on Tuesday.

A KLM pilot was arrested at the airport in Oslo, Norway after an alcohol test. The pilot was set to fly from Oslo to Schiphol. KLM refused to comment on the pilot's identity, or give any further details about the arrest, AD reports.

"We do not want to go into this matter any further because an investigation is ongoing", the airline said in a statement on Sunday, according to the newspaper. "In general we can say that at KLM alcohol and flying does not go together. Safety is always our highest priority."

The police arrested a pilot who was under the influence of alcohol at Schiphol Airport on Monday morning. The pilot was preparing for takeoff when the police removed him from the plane.

A breathalyzer revealed that the pilot had 0.9 per mille alcohol in his blood, while the limit for flight personnel is 0.2 per mille. Airline personnel are also not allowed to consume any alcohol 10 hours before a flight.

After a large strike by Transavia pilots on Monday, pilots working for KLM are also considering labor actions. Pilots' union VNV expects to make a decision on this matter by the end of next month, union chairman Arthur van den Hudding said to ANP.

A strike held by Transavia pilots at airports in the Netherlands ended at noon. Now the airline will focus on carrying out as many of the flights scheduled for Monday as possible, so that most passengers can still reach their destination today, Transavia CEO Mattijs ten Brink said according to ANP.

Transavia pilots can count on little support from the thousands of passengers affected by their strike on Monday. Social media is largely filled with complaints about the strike, and the timing thereof.

Transavia pilots are on strike until noon on Monday, resulting in around 30 Transavia flights being delayed or canceled - 18 from Schiphol, six from Rotterdam and six from Eindhoven Airport. Only departures are affected by the strike. Arrivals are still on schedule, NU.nl reports.

The strike actually started at midnight, but the first affected flight was only scheduled to depart around 6:00 a.m.

Dutch Transavia pilots are planning to strike in the second half of this month - during the February holidays. The approximately 500 Transavia pilots have been without a collective labor agreement for more than a year, and negotiations with the airline about better working conditions stalled on Friday, NOS reports.

"At the moment, a strike seems to be the only way to enforce our demands", the Dutch pilots' union VNV wrote on a flyer being handed out at Schiphol this week.

Dutch pilot Harold van Dam broke the record for quickest transatlantic flight by a subsonic aircraft while flying for budget airline Norwegian this week. Flying with a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner carrying 284 passengers, Van Dam flew from New York to London in 5 hours and 13 minutes, breaking the previous record of 5 hours and 16 minutes, Norwegian announced.

Behind the scenes KLM pilots are preparing labor actions to force the Dutch airline to meet their demands for a new collective bargaining agreement, pilots union VNV confirmed to Het Parool. KLM wants to conclude a long-term agreement with the pilots. But according to VNV, there are so many disagreements about major topics that a short-term in-between collective bargaining agreement must first be concluded to restore calm while the talks on a long-term agreement continue.

Former KLM pilot Willem Felderhof is forbidden to talk about toxic fumes onboard planes, and the health problems related to it, according to a KLM contract he signed when he left the airline, which Zembla has in its possession. Should he violate this contract, the pilot will have to repay his 300 thousand euros severance pay to the Dutch airline.

Felderhof suffers from headaches, equilibrium issues and slow reaction rates. According to his neurologist, he suffers from so-called aerotoxic syndrome, which he sustained in the aircraft cabin.